Calhoun

HARTFORD, Conn. — This wasn’t going to end well. UConn head basketball coach Jim Calhoun wasn’t going to absolve himself of all wrongdoing. He wasn’t going to walk away from a protracted NCAA investigation without hits to his reputation and sanctions to match transgressions that he committed, failed to identify or failed to rectify.

Anyone directly involved or even observing from afar knew that. The hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on legal representation, the pages of type that made up UConn’s 700-page response to allegations, the meandering explanations of how and why — it wasn’t about winning or losing. It was about damage control.

And on Tuesday, the NCAA announced some damage that Calhoun was not expecting.

The committee on infractions finally levied its sanctions against UConn for recruiting violations, the most notable of which is a temporary separation of coach and program. Calhoun will be suspended for the first three Big East games of the 2011-12 season after the NCAA found him guilty of failing to promote an atmosphere of compliance and failing to monitor the program in areas of phone calls, text messages and inducements provided by a booster.

Not only that, the NCAA added to the terms of the self-imposed sanctions that UConn set forth in September. There is a three-year period of probation beginning Tuesday, a reduction in scholarships through 2012-13, recruiting restrictions and more. Some will say it’s not enough. Some will say it’s too harsh. Either way, it’s not what Calhoun expected.

“I am very disappointed with the NCAA’s decision in this case,” Calhoun said in a statement provided by UConn. “My lawyer and I are evaluating my options and will make a decision which way to proceed.”

Anyone involved has 15 days to appeal.

UConn will be dealing with the fallout for quite some time, but the most visible and probably most embarrassing penalty will be the Huskies’ starting conference play next winter without their Hall of Fame coach on the bench.

Both Calhoun and the university had argued strongly against the “failure to promote” charge Calhoun was facing. But the NCAA saw enough evidence to hold Calhoun — and the university, which was cited for a failure to monitor — responsible.

The good news for UConn? There is no postseason ban.

For much of a 45-minute teleconference Tuesday afternoon, Dennis Thomas, the committee on infractions chairman, rehashed the obvious and stuck with what seemed like rehearsed answers to an array of questions. But he did make clear the severity with which the NCAA viewed UConn’s violations, which centered primarily on former manager-turned-agent Josh Nochimson and player Nate Miles, who enrolled at the university but was expelled in October 2008 before playing a game.